Judges Rules for Florida GSA
A federal judge has upheld the right of a gay-straight alliance to meet at a middle school in Leesburg, Fla.
The judge’s order, issued Thursday, upholds an agreement reached late last month that allowed the group to meet until the end of the school year, next week, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Eighth-grader Bayli Silberstein had found her efforts to start the club blocked by her principal and school board members since January; at one point they considered banning all clubs instead of allowing it. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on her behalf, saying her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated.
The day after the suit was filed, the ACLU and the Lake County school district worked out an agreement so the group could meet, but the judge’s decision Thursday finalizes that and orders the school district to pay legal fees.
http://www.advocate.com/youth/no-more-bullying/2013/05/31/judges-rules-florida-gsa